BRIEF  MEMORIAL 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD, 


SAHARUNPUR  MISSION,  NORTHERN 
INDIA. 


IN  A  LETTER  OF 

REV.  WILLIAM  CALDERWOOD. 


PUBLISHED*BY  THE 
AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STKEET,  NEW  YOKK. 


Stack 
Annex 

oo 


3327 


BRIEF  MEMORIAL 

OF 

MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD. 


DEHRA,  Northern  India,  Aug.  15,  1860. 

DEAR  MOTHER,  SISTER  AGNES,  AND  OTHER 
RELATIVES  AND  FRIENDS — For  a  long  time  I 
liavc  been  intending  to  comply  with  the  request 
of  many  of  you  for  a  more  detailed  account  of 
my  dear  departed  wife  than  I  have  yet  given ; 
but  always  when  I  attempted  it,  for  some  rea- 
son or  another,  I  can  scarcely  say  what,  I  have 
found  it  next  to  impossible  to  proceed.  To- 
day being  just  one  year  from  my  great  bereave- 
ment, I  feel  that  if  I  ever  do  it,  it  must  be  done 
now.  Perhaps  the  fulfilment  of  this  task  will 
be  a  fitting  observance  of  the  first  anniversary 
of  the  mournful  event. 

500:5:  w; 


4  BKIEF  MEMOEIAL  OF 

I,  as  well  as  you,  have  a  desire  that  you 
should  remember  one  whose  memory  will  ever 
be  most  dear  to  me.  I  feel  that  my  obligation 
to  make  you  better  acquainted  with  her,  is 
much  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  you  all 
loved  her  so  sincerely,  although  many  of  you 
knew  her  so  slightly.  I  will  try  to  write  such 
a  letter  as  you  may  wish  to  preserve  among 
you  as  a  kind  of  memento  of  a  very  dear  de- 
parted one.  I  will  therefore  begin  with 

THE  CHILD. 

Her  birthplace  was  in  the  same  country  towii 
of  Massachusetts  as  that  of  her  very  dear  friend 
Mrs.  Herron.  But  though  they  were  both 
children  at  the  same  time  in  Petersham,  yet,  so 
far  as  they  knew,  they  never  met  with  each 
other  till  five  years  ago,  when  they  were  both 
embarking  on  the  same  ship,  for  the  same  field 
of  labor,  far,  far  from  their  native  town,  there 
to  become  most  intimate  and  loving  friends. 

She  was  the  eldest  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Charles  Greenleaf,  and  was  born  on  the  27th 
of  February,  1835.*  Her  mother  dying  when 
she  was  about  two  years  old,  requested  her 
mother,  Mrs.  Phebe  Greenwood  of  Templeton, 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  5 

Massachusetts,  a  most  pious  and  active  Chris- 
tian lady,  to  take  her  as  her  own  child  and 
bring  her  up  in  the  fear  and  service  of  the 
Lord.  This  charge  she  fulfilled  most  faithfully, 
and  by  the  divine  blessing,  successfully. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  with  sunny  little 
faces  who,  even  in  a  few  weeks'  acquaintance, 
learned  so  fondly  to  love  her,  I  will  tell  a  story 
of  her  childhood. 

When  she  was  eight  or  nine  years  old,  a  lit- 
tle friend  of  hers,  younger  than  herself,  had 
received  a  pair  of  new  shoes.  This  little  girl 
went  one  day  a  strawberrying.  On  reaching 
the  strawberry  field,  to  save  her  new  shoes 
from  becoming  soiled,  she  put  them  off.  But 
on  leaving  the  field  for  home,  she  had  forgotten 
where  she  left  her  shoes ;  and  as  darkness  was 
approaching,  she  had  no  opportunity  of  search- 
ing for  them.  While  she  had  been  careful  in 
one  respect,  she  had  been  careless  in  another. 
So  next  morning  her  mother  required  that  she 
should  find  her  shoes  before  she  could  have  her 
breakfast.  In  great  trouble,  on  her  way  alone 
to  the  strawberry  field,  she  called  for  comfort 
and  counsel  on  her  little  friend  LIZZIE  GREEN- 
LEAF.  As  they  walked  together  towards  the 


6  BEIEP  MEMORIAL  OF 

field,  doubtless  sadly  discussing  the  probability 
of  one  of  them  losing  her  breakfast  as  well  as 
her  nice  new  shoes,  a  happy  thought  entered 
Lizzie's  mind.  She  said,  "  God  knows  where 
these  shoes  are,  and  if  we  will  ask  him,  perhaps 
he  will  show  them  to  us."  Before  they  entered 
the  field,  they  knelt  down  beside  the  fence,  and 
Lizzie  offered  a  prayer.  As  for  years  after 
this  time  she  had  scarcely  thought  of  this 
prayer,  the  precise  words  were  forgotten ;  but 
she  remembered  her  pleading  that  God  had 
asked  little  children  to  come  to  him,  and  now 
they  two  little  children  had  come,  and  wished 
him  to  show  them  where  A 's  shoes  were. 

That  prayer,  whatever  were  its  words,  was 
answered ;  they  had  scarcely  entered  the  field, 
when,  to  their  great  delight,  they  spied  the 
shoes. 

It  appears  that  at  that  time  the  Holy  Spirit 
had  begun  his  work  of  grace  in  Lizzie's  heart. 
She  expressed  a  desire  to  enjoy  the  full  privi- 
leges of  communion  with  God's  people.  But 
on  account  of  her  early  youth,  her  superiors  in 
years  advised  her  to  defer  the  step  for  a  time. 
For  some  years,  about  this  time,  she  enjoyed 
great  delight  in  daily  secret  prayer;  and  in 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  7 

riper  years  she  sometimes  longed  for  the  sweet 
seasons  she  in  childhood  often  enjoyed  in  secret 
communion  with  her  Saviour,  and  the  trans- 
porting views  she  sometimes  had  of  him  as  her 
Elder  Brother  and  Redeemer. 

I  presume  it  must  have  been  about  this  time 
of  her  life  when  the  following  anthem  or  hymn 
became  a  special  favorite  of  hers,  as  she  spoke 
of  it  as  having  been  such  for  years.  Favorites 
of  any  kind  give  an  excellent  clue  to  the  taste 
of  the  individual.  The  character  of  the  favor- 
ite sacred  songs  of  any  Christian  is  a  good  in- 
dex to  his  prevailing  frame  of  mind.  He  who 
is  always  sorrowing  will  have  very  different 
favorites  from  those  of  him  who  is  always  re- 
joicing; even  the  airs  that  a  person  is  accus- 
tomed to  hum  over,  may  be  an  indication  of  his 
taste  and  character.  This  hymn  she  invariably 
sung  to  the  sweet  flowing  melody  of  Lowell 
Mason's  Ariel.  When  I  recollect  the  animated 
expression  with  which  she  always  sung  the  last 
verse,  I  feel  I  ought  not  to  have  been  surprised 
that  her  closing  hours  on  earth  were  so  calm 
and  triumphant.  I  wish  all  my  nieces  could 
sing  with  the  feeling  that  their  dear  aunt  Liz- 
zie did,  this  beautiful  hyinn. 


8  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

"  Oh  could  I  speak  the  matchless  worth, 
Oh  could  I  sound  the  glories  forth, 

Which  in  my  Saviour  shine, 
I  'd  soar  and  touch  the  heavenly  strings, 
And  vie  with  Gabriel,  while  he  sings 
In  notes  almost  divine. 

"I'd  sing  the  precious  blood  he  spilt, 
My  ransom  from  the  dreadful  guilt 

Of  sin  and  wrath  divine  ; 
I  'd  sing  his  glorious  righteousness, 
In  which  all-perfect  heavenly  dress 
My  soul  shall  ever  shine. 

"I'd  sing  the  characters  he  bears, 
And  all  the  forms  of  love  he  wears, 

Exalted  on  his  throne ; 
In  loftiest  songs  of  sweetest  praise, 
I  would  to  everlasting  days 

Make  all  his  glories  known. 
"  Soon  the  delightful  day  will  come, 
When  my  dear  Lord  will  bring  me  home, 

And  I  shall  see  his  face ; 
There  with  my  Saviour,  Brother,  Friend, 
A  blest  eternity  I  '11  spend, 

Triumphant  in  his  grace." 

She  had  one  other  very  special  favorite.  It 
seemed  to  be  understood  that  one  or  the  other 
of  these  must  be  sung  at  the  close  of  our  hours  of 
singing,  in  which,  ever  since  I  have  known  her, 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  indulge.  Till  this 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  9 

moment,  it  never  occurred  to  me  how  much 
these  two  favorites  correspond  with  each  other. 
The  music  of  this  is  also  by  Lowell  Mason.  I 
will  transcribe  one  or  two  verses. 

"  Jerusalem,  my  glorious  home ! 

Name  ever  dear  to  me ; 
When  shall  my  labors  have  an  end 
In  joy  and  peace  in  thee  ? 

"  Oh  when,  thou  city  of  my  God, 

Shall  I  thy  courts  ascend, 
Where  congregations  ne'er  break  up, 
And  Sabbaths  have  no  end  ? 

"  There  happier  bowers  than  Eden's  bloom, 

Nor  sin,  nor  sorrow  know ; 
Blest  seats !  through  rude  and  stormy  scenes 
I  onward  press  to  you." 

I  remember  hearing  her  speak  of  several  oc- 
casions, when  she  was  about  nine  years  of  age, 
when  little  girls  called  on  her,  and  sometimes 
when  a  few  would  be  walking  with  her  from 
school,  she  would  talk  to  them  about  Christ's 
loving  little  children,  and  how  much  he  had 
done  for  them ;  and  as  their  little  hearts  would 
melt,  sometimes  even  to  tears,  she  would  sug- 
gest that  they  all  go  with  her  to  some  place 
where  they  would  not  be  seen  or  disturbed, 


10  BEIEP  MEMORIAL  OP 

and  there  thank  him  and  pray  to  him.  Her 
grandfather's  barn  was  one  place  to  which  they 
resorted  for  such  purposes,  and  a  shady  grove 
not  far  from  her  grandfather's  house,  another. 
Sometimes  they  took  the  Testament  and  hymn- 
book  with  them,  when  they  would  read  and 
sing  and  pray.  Of  these  occasions  she  seldom 
spoke  without  adding  some  such  exclamation 
as,  "  Oh,  what  sweet  seasons  those  were!" 

Who  can  limit  the  amount  of  good  done  at 
these  children's  impromptu  prayer-meetings ; 
the  holy  impressions  that  may  have  been  made 
upon  their  young  hearts — impressions  which 
may  have  had  no  slight  influence  in  giving  tone 
and  character  to  their  after-lives?  "  The  child 
is  father  to  the  man."  "  Jesus  saith  unto  them, 
Yea ;  have  ye  never  read,  Out  of  the  mouths 
of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  perfected 
praise?" 

But  after  those  years  of  interest  and  pleasure 
in  divine  things,  came  some  years  of  lukewarm- 
ness,  over  which  she  often  deeply  mourned. 
Probably,  however,  few  would  have  looked 
upon  those  "  years  of  backsliding,"  as  she  called 
them,  in  the  same  light  in  which  she  did.  It 
does  not  appear  that  she  was  ever  considered 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  11 

a  thoughtless  or  irreligious  girl;  on  the  con- 
trary, she  was  commonly  regarded  as  consist- 
ently pious  from  her  childhood  up. 

Although  her  home  was  over  three  miles 
from  her  house  of  worship,  yet  perhaps  there 
was  not  one  more  regular  in  attendance  there, 
or  more  uniformly  in  the  Sabbath-school,  both 
when  she  was  a  scholar  and  when  she  was  a 
teacher.  I  have  heard  her  speak  of  her  hav- 
ing walked  the  whole  three  miles,  rather  than 
either  stay  at  home  herself  or  prevent  her  good 
grandmother  from  going;  as  sometimes  there 
were  not  vacant  seats  in  the  carriage  in  which 
they  were  accustomed  to  go  to  church,  for  both 
of  them.  What  she  in  after-life  mourned  over 
was  not  a  reckless  irrcligion,  but  a  lack  of  holy, 
ardent  delight  in  sacred  things ;  a  want  of  full 
assurance  of  faith ;  and  especially  an  inactivity 
in  promoting  the  eternal  welfare  of  others. 

THE  YOUNG   CHRISTIAN. 

I  think  she  was  never  fully  decided  in  her 
own  mind,  whether  it  was  before  or  after  those 
years  of  lukewarmness  in  religious  things  that 
she  really  became  a  child  of  God.  When  she 
was  about  seventeen  years  of  age  her  interest 


12  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

in  religion  was  graciously  revived.  Her  pastor, 
a  devoted  servant  of  Christ,  the  Rev.  A.  V. 
Dimock,  at  that  time  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Baldwinsville,  Massachusetts,  feeling 
fully  assured  that  she  had  at  some  time  become  a 
child  of  God,  admitted  her  to  the  communion 
of  the  church  under  his  care. 

The  first  I  ever  heard  of  her  was  when  I 
was  engaged  in  that  most  important  work,  the 
circulating  of  the  books  of  the  American  Tract 
Society.  As  volume  agent  of  the  Branch  Soci- 
ety at  Boston,  I  made  it  my  business  to  go  to 
each  town  and  obtain  Christians  of  both  sexes 
who  would,  as  a  religious  duty,  without  any 
.pecuniary  remuneration  for  their  labor,  receive 
a  few  of  the  publications,  and  taking  an  allot- 
ted portion  of  the  town,  would  visit  every  fam- 
ily in  that  section,  and  endeavor  to  do  all  the 
good  they  could  do,  in  the  way  of  religious 
conversation  and  prayer;  and  supply  at  least 
some  religious  publication,  by  either  sale  or 
grant,  in  every  household. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dimock  and  myself  were  con- 
sulting as  to  what  persons  might  be  suitable  to 
visit  his  parish,  when  he  remarked,  "There's 
Lizzie  Greenleaf ;  if  she  were  only  home  from 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  13 

the  seminary  now,  on  vacation,  she  would  like 
to  visit  the  whole  of  the  parish  herself,  and  no 
one  would  do  it  better."  Her  name  being  again 
mentioned,  I  asked  who  this  Lizzie  Greenleaf 
was.  Her  pastor  replied,  "She  is  a  young  lady 
about  twenty  years  of  age,  who  two  years  ago 
united  with  the  church,  and  since  that  time, 
after  the  example  of  her  divine  Master,  she  has 
been  constantly  going  about  doing  good,  and 
has  been  the  means  of  the  conversion  of  more 
than  one." 

As  Providence  would  have  it,  she  did  return 
from  the  seminary  in  time  to  visit  a  portion  of 
the  town.  Nor  did  she,  in  the  performance  of 
that  labor,  dishonor  the  high  character  her 
pastor  had  given  her.  With  the  other  volun- 
tary colporteurs  of  that  parish,  at  an  appointed 
day,  she  met  me  at  the  pastor's  house  to  report 
with  regard  to  her  colporteur  labors.  I  asked 
her  how  she  liked  the  employment.  As  the 
crimson  slightly  mantled  her  cheek,  and  the 
moisture  filled  her  eye,  she  replied,  "  I  wish  I 
could  be  always  engaged  in  such  work." 

Nor  was  this  a  mere  transient  flash  of  zeal. 
She  had  whispered  to  her  grandmother  more 
than  once,  that  she  "would  like  to  go  to  any 


14  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

country  in  the  world  where  she  could  be  con- 
stantly engaged  in  telling  perishing  sinners 
about  the  precious  Saviour."  And,  what  I  pre- 
sume few  of  her  friends  ever  knew,  she  at  one 
time  had  determined  to  go  unmarried  as  a  for- 
eign missionary,  should  her  grandmother  not 
forbid  it.  It  was  not  her  fault  that  she  did  not 
carry  out  her  purpose. 

But  she  was  not  one  of  those  who  are  con- 
stantly saying  or  thinking  that  if  they  were 
only  in  some  place  where  they  are  not,  or  in 
some  circumstances  in  which  they  are  not,  or  if 
it  were  not  for  this  or  that  or  some  other  thing, 
then  they  might  do  some  good,  but  just  as  they 
are  they  can  do  little  or  none.  She  was  not 
one  of  those  who  look  with  such  interest  and 
intentness  on  distant  opportunities,  that  they 
cannot  see  the  most  urgent  demands  close  at 
their  side.  Wherever  she  was  she  labored  with 
such  interest,  and  unfaltering,  cheerful  zeal, 
that  an  observer  would  have  thought  she  con- 
sidered herself  always  in  the  very  best  place  in 
the  world  for  the  noblest  Christian  exertion. 
Improve  the  present  was  emphatically  her  motto. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  giving  you  an  illustra- 
tion of  this,  and  in  giving  it  I  am  thinking 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  15 

again  of  those  with  bright  little  faces,  who 
were  so  delighted  with  her  visits.  It  may  be 
suggestive  to  some,  as  to  how  they  may  some- 
times obtain  opportunities  of  doing  good ;  and 
it  is  interesting  to  me  as  another  example  of 
the  ease  with  which  such  opportunities  are 
found  by  those  who  are  always  on  the  lookout 
for  them.  There  is  always  "ready  work  for 
willing  hands." 

She  herself,  however,  seemed  to  think  that 
she  had  done,  and  had  even  attempted,  very 
little.  I  do  not  remember  her  ever  speaking 
of  the  incident  to  which  I  refer  but  once,  and 
then  I  with  difficulty  drew  from  her  a  few  of 
the  facts  by  a  succession  of  questions.  The 
chief  details  have  been  learned  from  papers 
discovered  since  her  lamented  departure. 

She  was  always  considered  as  a  most  diligent 
student  while  at  school.  One  might  therefore 
have  expected  that  while  there  she  would  have 
excused  herself  from  active  Christian  effort  for 
the  salvation  of  others.  But  to  do  good  was  a 
recreation  to  her. 

She  had  a  young  lady  companion  at  the  sem- 
inary, a  great  favorite  with  the  scholars  gener- 
ally; intelligent,  talented,  and  good  looking; 


16  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

but  considered  to  be  entirely  thoughtless  as  to 
her  soul's  eternal  welfare ;  and  she  was  engaged 
to  be  married  to  an  openly  irreligious  man. 
Lizzie  persuaded  her  room-mate  to  engage  with 
her  in  prayer  daily  for  the  salvation  of  this  gay 
young  companion.  For  a  long  time  these  two 
together  wrestled  with  God  in  prayer  for  this 
special  object.  "  Morning,  noon,  and  night 
might  these  two  young  Christians  have  been 
heard  pouring  out  their  hearts  in  supplication 

to  God  for 's  conversion."     One  day  she 

entered,  somewhat  abruptly,  this  gay  compan- 
ion's room,  and  found  her  with  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  her  hand,  which  she  at  once  threw 
aside.  "No,  no,"  says  Lizzie,  "don't  lay  it 
away,»  but  let  us  read  it  together ;"  saying 
which,  she  took  it  up  and  read  a  passage  con- 
cerning the  sufferings  and  death  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  closed  remarking,  doubtless  with 
affectionate  feeling,  "Is  it  not  a  shameful  sin 
for  any  to  neglect  such  a  precious  Saviour,  who 
has  done  so  much  for  them?"  Her  companion, 
with  the  tears  gathering  in  her  eyes,  replied, 
"  0,  Lizzie,  I  do  want  that  Saviour  to  be  mine." 
Soon  they  were  both  on  their  knees,  and  in  a 
few  days  it  was  cautiously  whispered  around 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  17 

through  the  school,  that had  become  seri- 
ous, and  intended  to  join  the  church. 

The  person  to  whom  she  was  engaged  was 
not  a  little  displeased ;  and  with  all  her  efforts 
to  arouse  him  to  a  sense  of  his  own  eternal 
danger,  the  best  terms  to  which  she  could  bring 
him  were,  that  she  might  be  as  religious  as  she 
pleased  in  secret — might  pray  every  day  in 
private — but  she  must  on  no  account  make  a 
public  profession  of  religion.  Many  were  the 
struggles  and  trials  through  which  she  had  to 
pass  before  she  found  her  way  clear  in  this 
matter.  I  need  scarcely  say  that  she  some- 
times found  comfort  from  a  few  words  and  a 
prayer  with  Lizzie.  Her  irreligious  friend  was 
firm  in  his  determination,  that  if  she  would  be 
his  wife  she  must  never  be  openly  numbered 
with  the  people  of  God — he  doubtless  depend- 
ing for  success  on  her  long  and  ardent  love  to 
him.  She  at  last  found  herself  compelled  to 
choose  between  her  Saviour  and  the  object  of 
her  earthly  love.  Grace  triumphed.  It  has 
been  said  that  after  she  had  united  with  the 
church,  he  hesitated  as  to  the  wisdom  of  his 
decision,  but  I  have  not  heard  it  whispered 
that  she  ever  repented  of  hers. 


18  BKIEP  MEMORIAL  OF 

While  Lizzie  was  thus  faithful  to  the  eternal 
interests  of  those  around  her,  she  was  not  neg- 
lectful of  her  ordinary  duties.  Her  object  in 
studying  was  to  make  herself  the  better  able  to 
accomplish  good.  If  Providence  threw  oppor- 
tunities in  her  way  for  the  accomplishment  of 
this  grand  object  without  interfering  with  the 
pursuit  of  the  secondary  one,  why  should  she 
in  the  least  sacrifice  the  principal  to  the  sub- 
sidiary? Those  young  men  or  young  women 
who,  in  the  course  of  their  education,  find  few 
or  no  opportunities  for  the  performance  of  ac- 
tual labor  in  the  upbuilding  of  their  Saviour's 
kingdom,  have  great  reason  to  fear  that  they 
may  not  find  these  openings  any  too  frequent 
after  their  course  of  training  is  completed.  He 
who  neglects  an  inviting  opportunity  for  the 
accomplishment  of  good  while  he  is  pursuing 
his  studies,  has  certainly  some  reason  to  doubt 
whether  he  is  pursuing  them  for  the,  purpose  of 
fitting  himself  for  doing  good. 

Her  earnest  efforts  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  others  did  not  seem  to  interfere  at  all  with 
her  progress  in  her  daily  studies.  The  princi- 
pal of  the  seminary  considered  her  one  of  the 
most  diligent  as  well  as  apt  scholars  of  his 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  19 

school.  From  her  first  attendance  at  the  dis- 
trict school,  till  the  time  when  she  left  the  sem- 
inary to  come  and  teach  benighted  heathen  the 
way  of  eternal  life,  she  was  often  the  youngest 
in  large  classes  and  yet  at  their  head.  It  will 
generally  be  found  that  those  that  do  most  for 
others,  prosecute  their  own  affairs  with  the  best 
success.  "  There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet 
increaseth." 

But  it  is  not  always  that  those  most  active 
in  doing  good  meet  with  the  fewest  trials. 
Perhaps  few  have  made  great  progress  in  sanc- 
tification  without  having  had  their  faith  fre- 
quently put  to  severe  tests.  I  must  not  fail  to 
speak  of  what  was  undoubtedly,  to  her, 

THE  ORDEAL. 

About  a  year  from  the  time  of  her  colpor- 
teur labors,  some  of  you  met  with  her,  and 
know  the  cheerfulness  with  which  she  left  the 
home  and  friends  of  her  childhood  and  youth, 
for  the  sake  of  going  "to  tell  perishing  sinners 
[of  India]  about  the  precious  Saviour."  But 
there  were  fearful  storms  through  which  she 
had  to  struggle  in  reaching  the  sunshine  in 
which  you  saw  her.  of  which  only  a  few  ever 


20  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

knew,  or  will  know,  until  they  shall  learn  them 
from  sanctified  lips  above,  in  the  notes  of  the 
grand  anthem  of  praise  to  Him  who  giveth  us 
the  victory. 

In  her  own  mind,  through  grace,  she  had  been 
consecrated  to  this  great  work  for  years,  in  case 
Providence  should  open  a  door  through  which 
she  could  enter  upon  it.  On  this  subject  her 
mind  never  changed.  But  the  idea  of  abandon- 
ing all  that  had  been  dear  to  her  from  child- 
hood was  often  to  her  overwhelmingly  distress- 
ing ;  and  just  before  the  final  determination  on 
the  question  of  her  going  to  India  at  the  time 
she  did  go,  events  transpired,  all  of  which  were 
providential  so  far  as  she  was  concerned,  and 
many  of  them  so  far  as  any  human  being  was 
concerned,  which,  for  a  time,  seemed  almost  ab- 
solutely to  forbid  her  proceeding. 

A  few  words  from  one  of  her  grandmother's 
letters  to  her  while  she  was  at  the  seminary, 
will  give  some  idea  of  one  of  the  trials  through 
which  she  had  to  pass.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  for  years  she  and  her  grandmother 
had  composed  an  entire  family,  and  their  mutual 
love  was  most  ardent.  Her  grandmother  writes 
her: 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  21 

"  But  I  must  answer  your  kind  letter,  although 
it  is  a  most  trying  task.  Yes,  dear  Elizabeth, 
to  think  that  you  have  made  up  your  mind  to 
leave  me  and  go  to  India,  never  more  to  see 
your  face,  is  very  trying  to  your  aged  grand- 
mother. I  was  hoping  to  lean  upon  you  in  my 
declining  years.  Yes,  Elizabeth,  you  are  as 
dear  to  me  as  my  own  daughter  could  be,  now 
that  I  have  no  daughter  left  upon  earth.  It  is 
very,  very  trying.  But  if  the  Lord  has  called 
you  to  this  great  work,  I  will  say  amen  to  it, 
and  rejoice  that  he  has  counted  you  worthy." 

The  bitterness  of  this  fearful  cup  was  aggra- 
vated also  by  the  fact  that,  with  but  two  or 
three  exceptions,  all  her  relatives  and  accus- 
tomed advisers  were  firm  in  the  belief  that  she 
was  doing  wrong  in  going  to  India.  Nor  did 
they  at  all  attempt  to  conceal  this  opinion  from 
her.  To  some  persons  this  might  have  caused 
no  serious  grief;  but  not  so  with  her.  From 
childhood,  one  of  her  characteristics  was,  that 
objections  made  by  her  friends  to  any  step  she 
took,  were  to  her  a  cause  of  inexpressible  un- 
easiness. 

You  would  be  better  able  to  appreciate  the 
bitterness  to  her  of  this  ingredient,  had  you 


22  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

seen  the  radiant  sunshine  with  which  her  coun- 
tenance was  lit  up,  on  reading,  after  she  had 
reached  the  mission  ground,  such  passages  as 
the  following.  The  first  is  from  a  letter  to 
her  from  one  whose  opinion  she  looked  up  to 
with  almost  the  same  confidence  as  to  her 
grandmother's,  and  who  for  a  long  time  felt 
it  duty  firmly  to  protest  against  the  step  here 
more  than  approved  of.  This  person  writes, 
"I  now  rejoice  very  much  that  you  went  to 
India.  I  feel  thankful  that  I  have  so  near  a 
relative  laboring  among  the  heathen  for  their 
salvation.  I  feel  it  has  been  a  great  blessing 
to  myself,  by  increasing  my  interest  in  the  cause 
of  Christ." 

I  may  be  allowed  to  give  a  slight  hint  with 
regard  to  this  change  of  sentiment.  You  may 
judge  whether  it  may  not,  at  least  partly,  ac- 
count for  the  change.  The  person  had  long 
been  a  Christian.  But  even  Christians  do  not 
always  bask  in  the  sunshine  of  religion.  In 
the  letter  from  which  the  above  extract  is 
taken,  there  are  various  very  evident  indica- 
tions that  religion  had  recently  been  very  much 
revived  in  that  person's  soul. 

A  few  genial  rays  of  light  and  heat  from  the 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  23 

Sun  of  righteousness  on  high,  will  sometimes 
do  wonders  towards  dispelling  the  dark  fore- 
boding clouds  that  often  hang  over  the  vale  of 
religious  sacrifice  and  self-denial.  Many  sac- 
rifices which  appear  quite  uncalled  for,  indeed 
very  wrong,  when  viewed  through  the  dusty 
clouds  of  this  world,  appear  very  right  when 
seen  in  the  clear  light  of  eternity. 

The  following  from  her  revered  pastor  also 
reveals  something  with  regard  to  this  same 
trial.  "  There  were  misgivings  in  some  hearts, 
but  not  in  yours,  nor  in  your  companion's,  no, 
nor  in  mine.  I  believe  in  doing  right,  and  leav- 
ing the  consequences  with  God And  now 

I  believe  all  agree  that  the  results  have  shown 
that  the  step  was  approved  by  our  divine 
Master." 

Her  grandmother,  although  the  chief  suffer- 
er, always  gave  the  movement  her  hearty  ap- 
probation. She  writes,  "Almost  if  not  all  of 
your  friends  now  think  you  did  right  in  going, 
and  daily  I  thank  God  that  he  called  you 
there,  and  pray  for  success  to  you  and  to  your 
whole  mission,  in  the  blessed  work  of  showing 
poor  ignorant  heathen  the  way  of  eternal  life." 

That  good  woman,  from  the  day  we  left  the 


24  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

American  shores,  till  the  day  of  her  lamented 
death,  27th  December,  1856,  at  a  particular 
hour  of  every  day,  no  matter  how  she  was  en- 
gaged or  in  what  company,  retired  to  suppli- 
cate blessings  on  us,  on  our  work,  and  on  that 
of -our  whole  mission.  I  believe  her  hour  for 
this  prayer  was  at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  Oh  that 
we  had  more  than  we  have  of  such  praying 
mothers  in  Israel. 

I  have  often  wondered  why  the  great  Ruler 
above  should  allow  or  direct  such  obstacles  to 
appear,  as  rose  before  her  of  whom  I  write, 
when  she  was  preparing  to  go  as  a  foreign 
missionary.  Probably,  however,  it  is  as  easy 
to  understand  his  providence  in  the  present 
case,  as  in  his  commanding  Abraham  to  slay  his 
only  hope  of  promised  posterity;  or  in  strip- 
ping Job  of  all  his  earthly  possessions.  Al- 
though her  trials  at  the  time  were  most  distress- 
ing to  us  both,  yet  they  had  scarcely  passed  over 
when  we  were  enabled  most  heartily  to  bless 
our  heavenly  Father  for  them.  I  regard  them 
as  having  been  an  important  instrumentality 
in  preparing  us  for  our  work  in  India ;  and 
the  Christian  heroism  with  which  she  buffeted 
them,  I  have  always  considered  one  of  the 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  25 

clearest  testimonies  I  have  ever  met  with  to 
the  depth  of  her  piety,  the  nobility  of  her 
Christian  character,  and  the  genuine  fervor  of 
her  zeal  in  the  service  of  her  Redeemer.  The 
circumstances  and  results  of  this  trying  ordeal 
illustrate  the  wisdom  of  not  conferring  with 
flesh  and  blood,  in  the  discharge  of  our  highest 
duties ;  and  the  certainty  that,  though  obsta- 
cles as  fearful  as  the  deep  waters  of  the  Red 
sea  lie  before  us,  we  may  go  over  dry  shod,  if 
we  in  faith  boldly  "go  forward." 

Without  detaining  you  with  any  details  about 
the  voyage,  etc.,  which  I  presume  would  neither 
be  new  nor  edifying  to  you,  I  will  go  on  at  once 
to  say  a  little,  and  but  a  little,  about  her  as 

THE  MISSIONARY. 

It  was  with  a  kind  of  bewildering  satisfac- 
tion that,  after  the  distressing  ordeal  through 
which  she  had  passed,  the  whirl  of  excitement 
in  the  busy  scenes  of  our  departure  from  Amer- 
ica, the  tossings  on  the  wide  ocean,  the  rattle 
and  dust  of  a  thousand  miles  through  the  midst 
of  this  heathen  country — after  all  this  within 
the  space  of  a  few  months,  it  was,  I  say,  with  a 
kind  of  bewildering  joy  that  she  could  look 


26  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

around  on  the  work  before  her,  and  say,  "Well, 
am  I  now  indeed  on  foreign  missionary  ground? 
Am  I  really  settled  down  in  my  own  home, 
among  the  heathen,  with  nothing  to  do  but  to 
labor  to  lead  them  to  the  Saviour?  Why,  it 
seems  as  if  it  must  be  only  a  dream.  And  how 
remarkable  the  providences  by  which  I  have 
been  brought  here !  How  narrowly  did  I  escape 
losing  the  precious  privilege!"  Often  such  ex- 
pressions would  musingly  fall  from  her  lips 
within  the  first  few  months  after  our  settlement 
at  Saharunpur. 

Her  deep  interest  in  the  great  work,  her 
ardent  desire  to  be  engaged  in  it,  did  not  van- 
ish at  the  touch  of  the  realization.  In  the 
early  part  of  her  missionary  life,  she  thought 
she  could  scarcely  remain  here  ten  years  with- 
out visiting  her  dear  old  home.  But  gradually, 
in  her  mind,  she  extended  the  time  of  her  visit 
further  and  further — twelve,  fifteen  years — and 
at  last,  if  she  ever  visited  home,  she  wished  to 
return  here  and  leave  her  bones  on  the  mission 
field.  In  the  latter  wish  she  has  been  grati- 
fied, sooner  indeed  than  she  anticipated,  but 
not,  as  you  will  see,  before  by  divine  Provi- 
dence and  grace  she  was  prepared  for  it. 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  27 

With  regard  to  her  interest  in  her  mission- 
ary work,  a  slight  hint  may  be  found  in  the 
following,  which  she  penned  just  one  year  and 
two  days  before  she  entered  into  her  rest. 

"  God  has  been  most  kind  to  us  in  preserv- 
ing our  lives  through  this  dreadful  rebellion. 
I  trust  we  shall  be  led  to  do  more  for  Him 
and  love  Him  more,  for  this  merciful  preser- 
vation. Oh,  how  little  have  I  done  for  Him 
who  has  done  so  much  for  me !  Oh  that  I  could 
live  entirely  for  Him.  I  have  been  the  past 
year  much  more  anxious  to  be  more  earnestly 
and  zealously  devoted  to  His  cause,  and  have 
tried  very  hard  to  do  more  work  for  Him  than 
formerly." 

I  ought,  perhaps,  before  this  to  have  re- 
ferred more  particularly  to  an  event  which 
occurred  shortly  after  she  entered  upon  her 
missionary  work,  and  was  of  no  slight  impor- 
tance to  her.  Many,  many  a  time,  often  for 
hours  together,  she  would  weep  almost  as  if 
her  heafrfc  would  break,  when  something  would 
suddenly  recall  to  her  mind  her  "poor  dear 
grandmother,  left  all  alone."  She,  however, 
never1  expressed  a  doubt  that  she  did  right  in 
coming  to  Indi^*"  GOD  will  take  care  of  dear. 


28  BR'IEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

dear  grandmother,"  was  her  usual  satisfying 
consolation.  GOD  did  take  care  of  her.  He 
took  her  up  into  His  own  home.  The  following 
appeared  in  The  Watchman  and  Reflector 
January,  1857: 

"  DIED,  in  East  Temple  ton,  on  the  25th  ult.,  Mrs. 
Phebe  Greenwood,  in  the  68th  year  of  her  age. 
For  the  last  thirty-five  or  forty  years  of  her  life 
she  was  a  '  living  epistle,  known  and  read  of  all 
men.'  Her  piety  shone  brighter  and  brighter 
to  the  end  of  her  course.  All  who  knew  her 
were  constrained  to  feel  that  her  daily  deport- 
ment and  conversation  were  a  living  demon- 
stration of  the  truth  of  experimental  religion. 
She  loved  the  cause  of  Christ,  the  followers  of 
Christ,  and  the  ministers  of  Christ.  She  had 
an  excellent  acquaintance  with  the  system  of 
doctrines  contained  in  the  Bible,  and  adhered 
to  them  as  her  spiritual  food.  Her  fervid  zeal, 
her  humility,  her  calm  unshaken  trust  in  God, 
her  heavenly  unction  in  prayer,  evinced  that 
she  daily  experienced  fresh  anointing  from  on 
high,  and  held  constant  communion  with  God. 
Though  she  lived  more  than  three  miles  from 
the  house  of  God,  yet  her  seats  there  and  in 
the  Sabbath-school  were  seldom  vacant  on  the 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  29 

Sabbath  for  a  series  of  years.  She  was  remark- 
able also  for  a  tender  concern  for  the  souls  of 
others,  and  especially  for  those  of  the  young. 
By  a  cheerful  and  happy  frame  of  mind,  she 
divested  religion  of  every  thing  repulsive  and 
gloomy  to  the  youthful  mind,  and  labored  to 
win  them  to  Christ.  She  was  therefore  pecul- 
iarly dear  to  the  young,  as  they  could  not  but 
feel  assured  that  she  was  their  sincere  friend. 
"While  our  departed  friend  was  ardently 
attached  to  her  own  church  and  denomination, 
still,  rising  superior  to  the  prejudices  of  party, 
she  rejoiced  equally  with  all  who  gave  proof 
of  possessing  the  mind  of  Christ.  She  has  left 
two  children  and  a  number  of  grandchildren  to 
mourn  their  irreparable  loss.  One  of  the  lat- 
ter is  the  wife  of  Rev.  William  Calderwood, 
a  missionary  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
church  in  India.  Mrs.  Calderwood  was  brought 
up  by  her  grandmother,  and  will  therefore 
mourn  as  for  an  own  mother.  This  event  will 
doubtless  cast  a  deep  shadow  over  her  Indian 
home.  That  mission  too  has  lost  the  fervent 
prayers  of  one  who,  at  a  particular  hour  of  each 
day,  remembered  it  in  supplication  before  God. 
But  her  work  on  earth  is  done,  and  why  should 


30  BEIEP  MEMOEIAL  OF 

we  be  reluctant  to  have  her  go  to  the  rewards 
of  the  just?  Though  her  mortal  remains  are 
housed  in  the  silent  tomb,  and  her  sainted  spirit 
has  gone  to  dwell  with  Christ,  she  will  long 
live  in  the  memories  of  those  who  knew  her." 

From  the  above  obituary  notice,  taken  in  the 
connection  in  which  it  here  stands,  you  cannot 
avoid  noticing  how  distinctly  the  impress  of  the 
character  of  the  grandmother  was  left  on  that 
of  the  granddaughter ;  another  beautiful  illus- 
tration of  the  power  of  maternal  example. 

After  this  event  Lizzie  felt  additional  grati- 
tude that  Providence  had  brought  her  to  India 
before  her  grandmother's  home  was  broken  up 
by  death.  It  was  all  well.  The  offering  was 
made  in  good  faith ;  Isaac  was  sacrificed ;  and 
now  after  four  short  years  from  the  time  of  the 
offering,  the  devoted  grandmother  and  the 
fondly-loving  granddaughter  are  restored  to 
each  other  in  an  infinitely  happier  home  than 
that  which,  for  the  sake  of  their  Saviour,  they 
broke  up  at  Templeton.  Doubtless  ere  this,  in 
celestial  songs  of  gratitude  to  their  beloved 
Saviour,  with  a  heavenly  ardor  they  have  con- 
gratulated each  other  over  the  sacrifice  that 
grace  then  enabled  them  to  make. 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  31 

During  the  four  years  of  her  life  in  India, 
most  of  you  heard  from  time  to  time  of  her 
missionary  labors ;  so  that  even  if  I  had  leisure 
now  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  enlarge  on  them. 

In  the  acquisition  of  the  native  languages,  for 
a  long  time  she  kept  quite  in  advance  of  her 
husband,  and  would  doubtless  have  continued 
to  do  so,  had  her  health  remained  as  firm  as 
his. 

In  no  enterprise  did  she  ever  make  more 
strenuous  or  prayerful  efforts,  than  in  the  gath- 
ering of  heathen  girls  into  a  school.  She  did  in- 
deed succeed  in  getting  some  to  attend  very 
regularly,  but  they  were  few  in  number.  Her 
success  certainly  did  not  seem  to  be  commen- 
surate with  her  efforts.  But  if  she  did  her 
duty,  she  could  do  no  more,  and  the  gracious 
reward  will  not  be  wanting.  Doubtless  Da- 
vid's honest  desire  to  build  the  temple  met  with 
as  large  a  reward  of  grace  as  if  he  had  actually 
accomplished  the  work. 

But  her  success  in  instructing  the  native  Chris- 
tian women  and  their  children,  was  most  gratify^ 
ing.  The  children  came  to  her  every  morning, 
and  after  instructing  them  for  some  hours  in 
the  common  branches  of  education,  she  taught 


32  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

them  and  their  mothers  various  kinds  of  needle- 
work. This  introduced  them  to  quite  a  new 
way  of  spending  their  time,  a  way  that  did  not 
seem  to  have  ever  before  entered  their  minds. 
She  has  done  them  a  great  benefit  in  teaching 
them  to  improve  their  hours  of  leisure  from 
strict  domestic  duties  in  this  way,  for  which 
she  received  many  most  pleasing  marks  of  sin- 
cere gratitude.  Some  of  you  have  seen  some 
of  their  work  performed  under  her  direction. 

Simply  teaching  them  the  work  was  only  a 
small  part  of  her  care  in  the  matter.  They 
were  entirely  dependent  upon  her  for  selecting 
and  purchasing  the  material,  planning  in  what 
way  to  make  it  up,  and  disposing  of  it  after  it 
was  manufactured.  She  was  therefore  a  kind 
of  commission  merchant,  purchasing  for  them 
by  the  wholesale  the  raw  material,  and  retail- 
ing for  them  again  their  manufactured  article. 
Although  the  pecuniary  profits  of  her  mercan- 
tile operations  were  a  minus  quantity,  yet  I  am 
sure  she  enjoyed  the  business  quite  as  much  as 
merchants  usaally  do  in  filling  their  coffers. 
Part  of  her  interest  in  this  work  arose  from  the 
excellent  opportunity  it  gave  her  of  daily  con- 
versing with  the  women  and  children  in  an  in- 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  33 

formal  manner  on  religious  subjects,  as  well  as 
the  common  duties  of  life.  Like  her  grand- 
mother, she  had  a  peculiar  aptness  for  doing 
good  in  this  way.  The  amount  of  good  she 
really  accomplished  in  this  department  of  her 
labors,  I  believe  can  scarcely  be  overestimated. 

Several  of  the  girls  that  she  instructed  are 
now  in  the  mission  boarding-school  for  girls  at 
Dchra,  pursuing  ithe  same  course  of  education 
under  the  care  of  Mrs.  Herron.  Soon  these 
girls  will  become  the  mothers  in  our  Israel 
here.  With  such  a  training  as  they  are  now 
receiving,  they  will  be  fitted  for  doing  incalcu- 
lably more  for  the  advancement  of  Christianity 
in  India  than  their  predecessors  could  do.  In- 
telligent religious  female  influence  is  now,  most 
undoubtedly,  one  chief  desideratum  in  the  evan- 
gelization of  India.  I  trust  this  boarding- 
school  at  Dehra  will  yet  do  wonders  towards 
securing  this  great  desideratum.  I  bespeak  for 
it  the  earnest  prayers  of  you  all. 

I  have  discovered  a  scrap  written  in  her 
hand,  which  she  evidently  prepared  as  a  kind 
of  a  skeleton  of  a  discourse,  as  preachers  would 
call  it,  to  assist  her  memory  in  making  some 
remarks  to  the  native  Christian  women,  prob- 


34  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

ably  in  their  weekly  prayer-meeting,  which  was 
established  shortly  after  we  settled  at  Saha- 
runpur.  From  some  references  in  it,  it  seems 
likely  that  it  was  prepared  on  the  occasion 
of  the  death  of  a  little  orphan  boy,  John  H. 
Brown,  named  after  the  worthy  superintendent 
of  the  Sabbath-school  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  McLeod's 
church,  New  York.  You  would  perhaps  like 
to  see  the  skeleton  of  a  Hindustani  sermon  by 
her.  I  will  give  under  each  word  its  transla- 
tion into  English,  from  which  you  will  be  able 
to  pick  out  the  meaning  of  the  whole,  although 
in  English  the  composition  will  not  appear 
very  rhetorical. 

Meri    Piydri  Bahin — Yih  achcha  waqt  hai 
My        Dear        Sisters — This     good        time     is 

ki    ham  apne  dilon  ko  azmawen  ki   we  Khuda 

that  we     our      hearts   to     examine,  that  they  God 

ke  nazar  men  achcha  hain  ki  nihln. 

of    sight    in        good      are      6\  not. 

Khuda  is    waqt,  ham  ko,  buland  awaz  se 
God       this  time     us        to      high        voice     with 

bulata  hai,  ki     ham  apne  Khuda  se     milne 

calling     is,       that  we      our      God        with  meeting 

ke  liye  taiyar  ho  wen. 

for  ready    be. 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  35 

Khuda,  ham  men    se,    har    ek  ko  apne  kam 
God         us      among  from  every  one  to   his      work 

ke  karne     ko  bulata  hai. 

of  the  doing  to    calling   is. 

Ek  hafta  guzri,  palile  se     zayada  zor  se 
One  week  ago,      before  from  more       loud  from 

bulata  hai. 

calling   is. 

Hamko,    uski  awaz  ko  sunna  chahiye. 

Us  to  His    voice  to    hear      it   is   necessary. 

Aur  chahiye          ki    uske  khidmat  karne 
And  it  is  necessary  that  His       service      the  doing    *" 
men  ziyada  koshish  karen. 
in       more      effort       make. 

Aur  zarur       hai  ki   ab    ham  dil    o     jan 

And  necessary  is     that  now  we,     heart  and  soul 
se     dua  mdngen  ki    hamari  larke,    jaldi  se, 
with,  pray  that  our          children,  quickly, 

Yisuh  Masih  par   iman  lawen ;     aur    ki    we 
Jesus    Christ    upon  faith     bring ;        and     that  they 
Khuda  ke  khauf  aur  danai    men  barhen. 
God         of  fear       and  wisdom  in      increase. 

While  she  was  so  much  interested  in  promot- 
ing the  welfare  of  those  around  her,  she  was 
not  forgetful  of  her  old  acquaintances  in 
America.  Of  some  of  them  she  could  scarcely 
ever  speak  without  expressing  the  most  anx- 


36  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

ious  solicitude  regarding  their  eternal  welfare. 
I  have  found  a  scrap  of  her  writing,  without 
name  or  date,  which  is  evidently  a  part  of  a 
letter  intended  for  one  such  person.  Although 
she  was  not  a  very  prolific  writer  of  letters  of 
mere  friendship,  you  will  see  from  this  that  she 
sometimes  found  leisure  to  write  for  the  simple 
purpose  of  doing  good. 

"  Let  me  ask  you,"  she  writes,  "  have  you 
looked  to  the  things  pertaining  to  your  soul's 
welfare  ?  Do  you  believe  from  the  heart,  that 
you  have  nothing  more  to  do  in  preparation  for 
another  world  ?  Ask  yourself  seriously,  Jim  I 

prepared  to  die  ?  Do  not  tell  me,  dear ,  that 

God  is  merciful  and  cannot  bear  to  see  his 
creatures  suffer,  and  that  there  can  be  no  such 
thing  as  everlasting  punishment.  Yes,  he  is 
merciful,  but  he  is  also  just.  If  we  go  to  him, 
he  promises  us  eternal  life;  but  if  we  reject  him, 
it  is  just  as  certain  we  shall  have  eternal  misery. 

"  Do  not  say,  dear ,  that  you  have  accepted 

him ;  for  it  is  written,  '  By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them.'  Do  the  people  of  the  world  know 
you  to  be  a  child  of  God  by  your  fruits? 
Think  a  moment ;  what  are  the  fruits  by  which 
they  know  you  to  be  such?  Are  your  walk 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  3t 

and  conversation  such  as  become  a  child  of 
God  ?  Do  those  around  you,  particularly  your 
family,  see  that  you  are  careful  always  to  keep 
the  Sabbath  holy  ;  that  you  do  not  even  think 
or  talk  about  worldly  things;  that  you  are 
careful  to  converse  only  on  sacred  things,  and 
read  only  religious  books  on  that  holy  day  ? 
Is  one  of  your  fruits  morning  and  evening  fam- 
ily worship?  Do  you  teach  your  little  ones 
about  this  great  and  holy  Being  who  has  done 
so  much  for  you  ?  I  am  afraid  you  do  not.  I 
fear  your  fruits  show  you  to  be  only  of  the 
world. 

"  And  now,  dear ,  I  have  one  request  to 

make,  and  that  is,  that  you  daily  study  your 
Bible  and  ask  God  to  direct  you  by  his  Holy  Spirit 
to  read  it  under  standingly.  Go  as  a  child  to  it, 
and  try  to  learn  from  it  what  you  ought  to  do  ; 
and  as  it  teaches,  so  do.  Do  not  go  trying  to 
prove  this  or  that  or  the  other  thing. 

"  It  has  pleased  God  to  lay  you  on  a  bed  of 
sickness  several  times ;  and  twice,  within  my 
recollection,  to  bring  you  very  near  the  grave. 
And  it  has  pleased  him  to  restore  you  again, 
and  to  grant  a  few  more  days  to  you  to  pre- 
pare for  heaven.  Now  let  me  entreat  of  you 


38  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

not  to  put  it  off  longer,  but  come  now  while 
you  may. 

"  I  beg  you,  dear ,  to  think  over  these 

things,  and  to  strive  now  to  become  a  follower 
of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus.  I  shall  continue 
to  pray  for  this  so  long  as  I  live." 

With  regard  to  another  such  person,  I  find 
the  following  in  a  kind  of  a  journal,  in  which 
she  appears  to  have  only  occasionally  written 
at  her  daily  private  devotions ;  for  like  her 
good  grandmother,  it  was  her  custom  to  retire 
daily  at  ten  o'clock  for  secret  prayer. 

"  MAY  12.  To-day  I  received  letters  from  my 

dear  home :  from  my  dear ,  my  beloved 

,  and  my  truly  dear  .  Oh  how  my 

heart  bleeds  for  her.  She  is  yet  without  God, 
without  Christ  in  the  world.  Oh  how  I  ought 
to  humble  myself  in  the  dust  for  her.  Oh,  my 
heavenly  Father,  do  thou  in  much  mercy  spare 
her  life,  lengthen  out  her  day  of  grace,  at  least 
till  she  turn  unto  thee.  Bless  the  influence  of 
her  dear  pastor  over  her.  Oh,  draw  her  heart 
to  thyself.  Oh  that  my  eyes  were  a  river  of 
water,  that  I  might  weep  day  and  night  for  her. 
Oh  give  me  faith  to  believe  that  thou  art  able 
to  and  wilt  turn  her  from  the  error  of  her 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  39 

ways  to  thyself.  Oh  bless  the  letter  that  may 
have  reached  her  ere  this.  May  every  word 
bring  home  the  truth  to  her  heart,  that  without 
thee  she  cannot  live." 

I  fear  too  many  of  us  quite  too  seldom  write 
such  letters,  and  offer  such  prayers  as  these. 

In  no  work,  I  think,  did  she  engage  with 
greater  relish,  than  in  visiting  the  heathen  women 
of  the  neighboring  villages  at  their  own  houses. 
But  it  was  only  a  short  time  before  the  com- 
mencement of  her  fatal  disease,  that  she  felt 
sufficiently  at  home  in  the  native  languages  to 
perform  such  visits'  with  comfort  and  advan- 
tage. I  have  no  doubt  you  would  have  enjoyed 
seeing  her  seated  on  a  chdrpdi — a  native  bed, 
used  also  for  sitting  on  during  the  day — with 
twenty  or  thirty  native  women  and  children 
standing  around  her,  or  sitting  on  the  ground, 
chattering  that  strange  topsy-turvy  language 
of  which  I  gave  you  a  specimen.  Doubtless 
you  would  be  willing  to  take  some  trouble  to 
see  such  a  sight.  I  cannot  show  you  the  sight, 
but  perhaps  I  may  assist  you  a  little  in  imagin- 
ing the  scene,  by  giving  you  an  extract  or  two 
from  a  little  book,  in  which  she  seems  to  have 
commenced,  at  one  time,  a  kind  of  journal  of 


40  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

these  labors — evidently  intended  to  assist  her 
in  the  discharge  of  such  duties,  by  helping  her 
to  remember  the  circumstances  of  the  places  she 
might  visit.  In  these  visits  she  usually  took 
one  or  more  of  the  native  Christian  women 
along  with  her. 

"APRIL  14,  [1858.]  Took  Eliza  [wife  of  Rev. 
I.  W.  J.  Wylie]  with  me  to  Patanpura,  and  met 
with  a  more  cordial  welcome  than  I  expected. 
The  women  and  children  flocked  around  me,  and 
talked  so  fast  I  could  scarcely  understand  what 
they  said.  Upon  invitation  they  promised  to 
call  on  me  at  my  own  house  to-morrow." 

"APRIL  15.  Contrary  to  my  expectation,  more 
than  a  dozen  of  the  women  and  children  came. 
I  talked  with  them,  showed  them  the  interior  of 
our  house,  and  answered  innumerable  questions 
about  the  strange  things  they  saw.  In  the 
evening  took  Eliza  and  Svhani"  [Kan war  Sain's 
wife,  who  was  the  first  person  I  received  to  the 
church,  and  who  has  proved  a  most  worthy 
member]  "with  me,  and  went  to  the  same  vil- 
lage. Having  been  previously  invited  by  an 
old  woman  to  call  on  her  the  next  time  I  came 
to  that  village,  we  went  first  to  her  house.  She 
invited  us  to  be  seated  on  c/idrpdis,  and  soon  at 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  41 

least  thirty  women  and  children  were  around 
us.  After  talking  to  them  for  a  time,  they  asked 
us  to  read  to  them,  and  Eliza  read  the  first  part 
of  the  sermon  on  the  mount.  Four  or  five  old 
women  said  they  believed  in  God,  and  wished 
to  become  Christians.  Eliza  told  them  that 
there  were  two  ways  of  wishing  to  come  to 
Christ:  one  is  in  word,  and  the  other  in  heart; 
and  that  Christ  would  only  accept  of  those 
that  came  in  the  latter  way.  They  then  began 
to  boast  of  their  good  works.  Desiring  to  hear 
more  reading,  I  read  them  from  the  sixth  chap- 
ter of  Matthew.  As  we  were  leaving,  the  old 
woman  asked  me  to  take  a  drink  of  milk,  and 
seemed  quite  surprised  and  delighted  that  I 
consented.  ...  Oh  that  God  would  bless  us  in 
this  work,  and  that  he  would  open  my  mouth 
so  that  I  might  fully  and  clearly  point  these 
poor  creatures  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  tak- 
eth  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

"APRIL  16.  Visited  three  houses  in  a  village 
on  the  canal  west  of  our  house.  Although  many 
were  out  at  work  in  the  fields,  those  we  saw 
treated  us  politely.  One  woman  was  spinning, 
and  Sohani  worked  a  little  for  her,  which 
seemed  to  please  her  very  much." 


42  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

Had  she  from  whose  journal  the  above  is 
extracted  beer*  spared  in  health  a  few  years 
longer  in  India,  I  have  no  doubt  she  would 
have  accomplished  great  good  in  that  depart- 
ment of  labor.  Few  are  as  well  fitted  as  she 
was,  for  obtaining  access  to  such  places. 

I  must  now  introduce  a  subject  which  I  fear 
will  not  be  as  pleasant  as  the  preceding,  to 
either  the  reader  or  the  writer,  although  it 
may  be  quite  as  profitable  to  both. 

THE   SUFFERER. 

I  may  as  well  frankly  confess,  that  it  is  only 
after  several  abortive  attempts,  and  now  with 
the  utmost  difficulty,  that  I  am  able  to  come  to 
the  determination  to  proceed  in  some  way  with 
this  part  of  the  narrative.  For  the  purpose  of 
refreshing  my  memory  as  to  dates,  etc.,  I  glanced 
over  some  old  papers ;  but  instead  of  this  exer- 
cise fitting  me  to  proceed,  it  only  made  prog- 
ress impossible,  for  a  length  of  time  which  I 
am  ashamed  to  confess.  I  am  sure  you  will 
pardon  me  if  I  should  here  seem  to  be  somewhat 
more  brief  than  you  expected. 

I  cannot  date  her  last  illness  later  than  June, 
1858.  It  was  then  that  the  disease  to  which 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  43 

she  had  been  more  or  less  liable  for  the  pre- 
vious five  or  six  years  became  so  alarming  that 
the  physician  was  consulted.  For  some  months 
we  had  employed  a  teacher  of  the  native  lan- 
guages for  each  of  us,  as  it  seemed  necessary 
for  her  to  pursue  quite  a  different  course  of 
study  from  mine.  I  therefore  knew  less  of  the 
manner  and  extent  of  her  labors  than  previous- 
ly. Nevertheless  I  am  surprised  that  I  did  not 
learn,  in  some  way,  or  indeed  that  she  did  not 
distinctly  tell  me  what  the  doctor  on  close  in- 
quiry discovered — that  for  several  weeks,  at  the 
completion  of  some  of  her  daily  duties,  it  was 
a  common  thing  for  her  whole  frame  to  be  in 
such  a  tremor  for  half  an  hour  or  an  hour,  that 
she  was  unable  to  hold  her  pen  with  sufficient 
steadiness  to  write.  The  labors  which  were 
followed  by  this  tremor  were  teaching  the  girl's 
school,  and  translating  with  the  nrunshi — na- 
tive teacher  of  Hindustani. 

The  physician  very  naturally  ascribed  the 
aggravation  of  her  old  disease  to  excessive 
effort  and  interest  in  the  discharge  of  these 
duties.  I  this  moment  discovered  that  her 
most  earnest  labors  in  visiting  the  heathen 
women  at  their  houses  were  shortly  before  this 


44  BRIJJF  MEMORIAL  OP 

sickness,  and  often  on  returning  from  these 
visits,  the  first  thing  she  would  say  to  me  was, 
"  Oh  how  I  wish  I  could  talk  Hindustani  as  I 
can  English!"  She  indeed  confessed  that  the 
chief  reason  of  her  not  allowing  me  to  know 
earlier  the  full  extent  of  her  weakness,  was  the 
fear  that  I  should  stop  her  from  studying  with 
the  munshi;  and  she  hoped  that  with  a  little 
more  care  she  might  regain  her  strength  with- 
out discontinuing  any  of  her  regular  .duties. 
Her  medical  adviser  ordered'  her  at  once  to 
Dehra  or  Landour,  for  change  of  air,  etc.  He 
said  that  one  reason  of  his  ordering  her  away 
from  Saharunpur  was,  that  he  knew  if  she  re- 
mained there  she  would  not  be  able  to  dis- 
engage her  mind  sufficiently  from  her  usual 
labors;  and  he  charged  me  to  be  careful  to 
prevent  her  from  pursuing  her  studies  while 
absent. 

Having  been  away  from  home  about  a  month 
she  returned,  but  not  with  the  full  approbation 
of  her  physician,  who,  after  she  had  been  home 
six  or  seven  weeks,  sent  her  away  again.  She 
returned  in  November,  improved  somewhat  in 
health,  but  much  less  than  we  had  hoped  for. 

Shortly  after  arriving  home,  she  started  with 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  45 

me  for  our  annual  meeting  of  the  mission,  held 
that  year,  1858,  at  Lodiana.  It  was  at  that 
meeting,  which  may  perhaps  be  called  the 
revival  meeting,  that  the  invitations  for  the 
World's  Concert  of  Prayer  were  issued.  Per- 
haps she  is  still  thankful  that  a  good  Provi- 
dence .  arranged  it  so  that  she  should  attend 
that  remarkable  meeting,  and  that  the  last  an- 
nual meeting  she  was  to  attend  should  be  such 
a  meeting.  She  always  enjoyed  meeting  with 
her  fellow-missionaries,  and  did  not  forget  them, 
as  you  will  see,  in  her  last  hours.  Her  affec- 
tion for  them,  I  believe,  was  fully  reciprocated. 
More'  than  one  of  them  has  said  that  no  one 
was  a  more  general  favorite  with  the  members 
of  the  mission  than  she.  At  that  meeting  she 
had  an  opportunity  of  bidding,  what  turned 
out  to  be,  her  last  farewell  to  most  of  them. 

It  was  her  impression,  I  think,  that  she  had 
gained  as  much  strength  in  attending  the  meet- 
ing as  she  had  in  the  same  time  at  Dehra  or 
Landour ;  and  on  her  return  home  in  Decem- 
ber, she  at  once  resumed  most  of  her  missionary 
labors.  But  these  were  her  last,  and  were  con- 
tinued but  a  short  time. 

For  a  few  days  she  had  been  suffering  from 


46  BEIEF  MEMOEIAL  OF 

a  cold,  with  occasional  fever  and  ague,  but  all 
so  slight  as  scarcely  to  attract  our  special  no- 
tice ;  when  about  the  fifteenth  of  January,  1 859, 
the  wife  of  the  government  surgeon  at  the  sta- 
tion happened  to  call,  and  on  learning  her  state 
suggested  the  propriety  of  our  calling  in  her 
husband,  which  was  done.  He  discovered  that 
she  had  been  ill  with  a  slight  mucous  dysentery 
for  probably  nearly  a  year  past,  without  her 
fully  realizing  the  nature  of  the  disease.  She 
then  began  to  be  afflicted  with  the  most  excru- 
ciating pains,  suddenly  seizing  her,  first  in  one 
part  of  the  body,  then  in  another — now  in  her 
arm,  then  in  her  leg  or  shoulder.  I  cannot  de- 
scribe to  you  the  intensity  of  the  suffering  she 
then  endured  for  about  eight  days.  The  station 
doctor  called  in  another  physician  for  counsel, 
and  both  of  them  attended  her  daily  for  more 
than  a  week.  I  shall  never  forget  the  kindness 
of  these  physicians  and  their  wives.  Indeed, 
all  our  acquaintances,  both  European  and  na- 
tive, showed  a  sympathy  with  us,  and  an  inter- 
est in  our  welfare,  which  we  had  no  reason  to 
expect.  The  kind  way  in  which  this  interest 
was  often  shown  impressed  us  very  much.  Gen- 
eral Eckford,  C.  B. — a  good  pious  man,  son-in- 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  47 

law  to  the  late  James  Haldane,  the  eminent 
Scotch  lay  divine — who  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  calling  frequently  during  the  whole  time  of 
her  sickness  at  Saharunpur,  wrote  every  morn- 
ing inquiring  for  her  health,  and  called  every 
evening  when  she  was  able  to  see  him,  during 
the  three  weeks  of  her  very  severe  illness.  The 
Civil  and  Session's  judge,  and  his  lady,  could 
scarcely  have  shown  more  interest  in  their  own 
children.  One  day  he  wrote  such  a  kind  note 
to  us  that,  perhaps  in  connection  with  other 
kindnesses,  it  brought  the  tears  freely  to  the 
eyes  of  both  the  sufferer  and  myself ;  and  some 
months  after  this,  when  he  heard  of  our  being 
advised  to  go  to  America,  he  showed  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  interest  in  us,  by  offering  the  use 
of  his  purse  to  any  amount  we  might  need  in 
going  home.  This  he  did  under  the  impression 
that  we  were  depending  on  our  own  resources 
for  the  expenses  of  our  voyage ;  but  as  this 
was  not  the  case,  we  of  course  could  not  accept 
the  generous  offer. 

About  the  n'rst  of  February  her  pains  were 
entirely  removed,  and  other  diseases  much 
mitigated,  so  that  she  rode  out  with  me  in  the 
buggy  several  times,  and  took  a  few  short 


48  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

walks.  To  regain  her  former  strength,  her 
medical  attendants  advised  a  visit  of  a  few 
weeks  to  Dehra  or  Landour.  So  fair  were 
her  prospects,  that  neither  of  us  felt  the  neces- 
sity of  my  abandoning  my  post  and  remaining 
with  her ;  but  they  said,  that  one  reason  she  did 
not  receive  greater  benefit  from  her  visit  than 
the  summer  before,  was  her  not  being  so  happy 
absent  from  her  husband,  and  they  would  not 
advise  her  going  again,  unless  I  went  and  staid 
with  her  while  she  remained. 

Accordingly,  on  the  7th  February  we  left 
for  Dehra,  hoping  that  in  a  few  weeks  she 
would  be  as  strong  as  ever,  when  we  should 
both  return  to  our  labors  again.  How  fre- 
quently we  receive  lessons  on  the  uncertainty 
of  all  earthly  things. 

For  some  time  after  our  arrival  at  Dehra,  she 
improved  very  rapidly.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  I  made  a  most  interesting  visit  to  Bignour, 
from  which  I  was  recalled  on  account  of  her 
disease  taking  a  very  unfavorable  turn.  Her 
chief  ailment  had  never  entirely  left  her,  and 
towards  the  end  of  February,  in  some  way  she 
caught  a  severe  cold,  which  very  much  aggra- 
vated her  other  complaints. 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  49 

All  the  time  \ve  were  at  Dehra  we  were  the 
guests  of  our  excellent  and  dear  friends  the 
Herrons.  We  have  never  found  anywhere,  and 
could  not  wish  to  find,  better  friends  than  they 
have  been.  We  felt  as  much  at  home  in  their 
house  as  in  our  own.  They  spared  no  sacri- 
fice to  make  the  invalid  comfortable  and  happy. 
Brother  Herron  did  what  every  brother  would 
not  do — went  out  and  lived  in  a  tent,  that  we 
might  have  comfortable  rooms. 

About  the  middle  of  March,  the  severe  shift- 
ing pains  experienced  at  Saharunpur,  returned 
again ;  and  in  several  other  respects  the  suffer- 
ing invalid  began  again  to  get  worse.  The 
first  three  days  of  April  were  days  of  most  fear- 
ful suffering.  I  can  safely  say  that  I  never 
witnessed  suffering  at  all  approaching  that  in 
severity.  So  acute  was  the  pain,  that  some  of 
her  lady  friends  were  sometimes  compelled  to 
leave  her  room,  that  they  might  not  add  to  her 
distress  by  weeping  in  her  presence.  Although 
she  could  not  conceal  the  wrenching  pains  with 
which  her  body  was  racked,  yet  I  have  never 
known  that  any  one  ever  heard  a  murmur  es- 
cape her  lips.  The  tranquil  patience  she  main- 
tained during  those  days  of  agony,  was  the 


50  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

wonder  of  her  physicians,  and  indeed  of  every 
one  that  saw  her.  After  those  pains  left  her, 
she  told  me  she  never  in  her  life  before  enjoyed 
so  sensible  a  realization  of  the  Saviour's  pres- 
ence, as  she  did  when  the  pains  were  the  most 
acute.  The  nearness  of  his  presence  seemed  to 
be  in  proportion  to  the  severity  of  the  bodily 
distress.  She  said  it  was  "quite  worth  while 
enduring  the  outward  pain  for  the  sake  of  the 
inward  joy."  Here  is  another  instance,  to  add 
to  the  thousands  we  have  had,  of  one  like  the 
Son  of  God  walking  with  His  people  in  the 
midst  of  the  fire,  "while  a  hair  of  their  head 
is  not  singed."  You  will  shortly  see,  I  think, 
that  her  experience  in  this  respect  was  some- 
thing quite  unusual.  I  do  not  recollect  ever 
hearing  of  such  remarkable  joy,  in  such  severe 
pain,  as  she  experienced. 

April  7th,  we  left  for  Landour,  to  stay  at 
the  Retreat  till  the  beginning  of  the  rainy 
season,  when  we  hoped  to  return  to  Saharunpur. 
This  change  also  was  followed  at  first  by  favor- 
able results. 

April  10th,  for  the  past  four  years,  had  been 
a  memorable  day  to  us.  There  was  no  day  of 
the  year  whose  return  she  hailed  with  greater 


MBS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDEBWOOD.  51 

joy.  She  could  not  celebrate  it  this  year  as 
formerly  ;  but  Providence,  as  if  to  gratify  her  to 
some  extent  on  the  last  of  such  occasions  she 
should  enjoy  on  earth,  granted  her  better  health 
that  day  than  any  day  for  some  weeks  previous, 
and  better  than  she  ever  afterwards  enjoyed. 
She  walked  a  little  alone,  and  several  times 
across  the  room  with  help.  Although  very 
weak,  she  insisted  on  kneeling  in  prayer  by  my 
side,  and  leading  in  that  exercise  herself.  I 
will  give  you  an  extract  from  an  entry  in  my 
journal  on  that  evening. 

"  This  is  the  fourth  anniversary  of  our  wed- 
ding-day— four  years  now  since  our  marriage. 
In  reference  to  this,  she  offered  such  a  prayer 
as  I  never  heard  her  present  before,  for  its  self- 
consecration,  and  its  nearness  of  approach  to 
the  divine  presence.  She  reviewed  the  chief 
blessings  of  our  lives,  but  dwelt  particularly 
upon  that  of  our  marriage  and  the  mercies  we 

have  enjoyed  together  since  that  time She 

lias  several  times  spoken  of  the  extreme  suffer- 
ing she  endured  a  week  ago  to-day.  She  says 
all  of  that  day  in  which  her  pains  were  the 
most  severe,  she  was  involuntarily  saying  in  her 
mind, '  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  me,  and 


52  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

He  will  help  me  still.'  In  conversation  to-day, 
she  said  she  had  not  for  years  had  the  slight- 
est fear  of  death ;  and  she  now  thinks  that  as 
her '  Saviour  has  been  so  constantly  with  her  in 
these  very  severe  trials,  she  has  more  reason 
than  before  to  feel  sure  that  He  will  not  for- 
sake her  even  in  the  passage  of  Jordan.'  She 
has  a  firmer  hope  of  glory  to  come  than  she 
ever  had  before,  and  thinks  she  has  during  the 
sickness  made  some  progress  in  spiritual  life. 
On  this  account,  she  heartily  blesses  God  that 

he  has  sent  these   trials She  enjoyed 

singing  with  me  to-day  very  much." 

On  the  13th,  in  the  afternoon,  a  native  woman 
who  was  waiting  on  her,  came  running  to  me 
from  her  room,  in  great  consternation,  saying, 
"Uem  Sahib  ap  ko  bulati  hai" — The  mistress 
is  calling  you.  Hastening  to  her  room,  I  found 
her  leaning  back  in  her  chair  before  the  fire,  in 
a  fainting  fit,  her  body  all  in  a  tremor,  while 
a  native  Christian  woman,  in  great  alarm,  was 
trying  to  get  her  to  speak.  I  laid  her  on  her 
bed,  and  dashing  a  little  water  in  her  face,  she 
at  once  revived.  She  says  about  two  years  be- 
fore she  left  America,  she  had  three  or  four  such 
fits,  at  times  when  she  regarded  herself  as  in 


MRS.  LIZZIE  (J.  CALDERWOOD.  53 

her  usual  health.  The  station  surgeon  provi- 
dentially was  on  the  road  near  our  house,  when 
he  was  sent  for,  and  was  by  her  side  within 
fifteen  minutes  from  the  time  I  was  called. 

Some  hours  after  this,  I  accidentally  noticed 
tears  in  her  eyes,  and  asked  her  what  was  the 
matter,  what  troubled  her.  "  Nothing  troubles 
me,"  she  says,  "only  I  was  feeling  so  happy." 
"What  are  you  feeling  happy  about?"  "My 
Saviour  is  so  near  to  me,  I  have  so  many  com- 
forts that  many  have  not — good  friends  near  me, 

etc.     There's  Mrs.  B ,"  [a  good  Christian 

friend  of  ours,  wife  of  a  lieutenant-colonel  in 
the  army,]  "has  not  been  able  to  be  off  her  bed 
for  several  weeks,  and  her  husband  cannot  leave 
his  post  even  to  come  and  see  her ;  while  I  have 
you  with  me  all  the  time,  and  Jesus  is  so  near 
to  me ;  He's  nearer  me  than  you  are  ;"  drawing 
me  closer  to  herself  by  my  hand,  which  was 
then  in  hers.  After  some  other  remarks  were 
exchanged,  she  says,  "  Oh  what  a  difference 
there  is  between  knowing  that  God  is  present, 
and  feeling  Him !  I  always  know  He  is  present, 
but  I  don't  always  feel  Him  so."  Then  she 
went  on  to  explain  that  when  I  saw  the  tears 
in  her  eyes,  she  thought  "she  almost  saw  the 


54  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

Saviour,  leaning  over  her,  comforting  lier,  and 
seemed  to  feel  the  soft  pressure  of  His  hand  on 
her  head."  She  went  on  to  say,  "  Our  home  is 
a  very  happy  one,  but  it  cannot  be  so  much  so 
as  heaven.  I  have  been  thinking  how  pleasant 
it  would  be  to  die.  There  is  only  one  draw- 
back; it  is  leaving  you  alone How 

pleasant  it  is  to  think  that  all  my  best  friends 
who  have  died  have  gone  to  heaven,  and  I  shall 
meet  them  there ;  and  all  my  best  friends  who 
are  left  alive  will  follow  me,  except  perhaps 
two."  ....  I  remarked  that  "perhaps  she  would 
follow  them."  "  Well,  no  matter  which  goes 
first ;  I  mean  that  I  shall  some  time  see  them 
there." 

Her  medical  attendant  had  advised  us  to  be 
ready  to  remove  at  once  to  Dehra,  when  the 
rains  would  fairly  set  in.  Accordingly,  on  the 
8th  of  June  we  left  the  Hills,  intending  to  re- 
main in  Dehra  during  the  rainy  season.  On 
arriving  there,  the  physician  at  that  place,  and 
all  our  friends,  urged  us  to  prepare  at  once  to 
visit  America.  To  determine  on  such  a  move 
was  no  slight  trial  to  us  both.  But  the  posi- 
tive opinion  of  four  physicians,  being  all  that 
knew  her  case,  and  had  an  opportunity  of  ex- 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  55 

pressing  their  opinion  on  it,  that  such  a  step 
presented  the  only  promise  of  recovery,  the 
unanimous  and  urgent  advice  of  our  friends, 
together  with  our  own  fears  founded  on  expe- 
rience as  to  the  effects  of  rainy  weather  on  her 
diseases,  brought  us  at  last  to  the  full  convic- 
tion that  it  was  our  duty  to  go.  Although  the 
event  has  been  so  mournful,  yet  I  have  never 
heard  of  any  change  of  opinion  regarding  the 
propriety  of  the  step.  I  still  believe  it  was 
our  duty  to  go.  All  things  occur  just  as  they 
are  ordered  on  high :  still  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  if  we  had  not  been  unexpectedly 
detained  for  nearly  a  month  at  Allahabad  and 
Calcutta,  we  should  have  been  well  out  at  sea 
while  her  strength  remained ;  in  which  case,  ac- 
cording to  all  the  medical  opinions  I  have  ob- 
tained on  the  subject,  including  the  best  in 
India,  she  had  a  fair  prospect  of  arriving  in 
America  in  a  good  state  of  health. 

Almost  the  only  fear  of  the  physicians  was 
the  journey  down  the  country  during  the  rains. 
But  a  merciful  Providence  ordered  it  so  that 
we  experienced  not  the  least  inconvenience 
from  rainy  weather.  In  the  whole  journey  by 
carriage  and  railroad  to  Allahabad,  a  distance 


56  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

of  500  miles,  we  did  not  have  half  an  hour's 
rain  while  we  were  on  the  road.  The  invalid 
I  believe  was  in  quite  as  good  health  when  we 
reached  Calcutta  on  the  23d  of  July,  as"  when 
we  left  Dehra  on  the  28th  of  June.  Changes 
of  air  always  had  an  immediate  good  effect 
on  her  diseases,  sometimes  to  a  degree  that 
quite  surprised  us.  This  advantage  much  more 
than  compensated  for  the  fatigue  and  other  in- 
conveniences in  the  journey  to  Calcutta,  as  well 
as  on  that  to  the  annual  meeting  before  spoken 
of.  On  our  arrival  in  Calcutta  she  rode  in  a 
carriage,  apparently  with  perfect  comfort,  from 
the  steamer  in  which  we  came  from  Allahabad 
to  her  boarding-house,  a  distance  of  about  two 
miles.  Some  time  after  this,  by  the  advice  of 
her  medical  attendant,  she  took  an  hour's  drive 
in  a  carriage.  Having  received  benefit  from 
this,  she  several  times  afterwards  prepared  to 
go  out,  but  was  always  prevented  by  the  inces- 
sant rain. 

The  next  day  after  our  arrival  in  Calcutta, 
Dr.  Macrae,  one  of  the  two  most  eminent  phy- 
sicians of  that  city,  kindly  consented  to  attend 
the  invalid,  which  he  did  most  faithfully  and 
skilfully,  and  notwithstanding  the  large  amount 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDEBWOOD.  57 

of  service  he  rendered,  he  most  generously  re- 
fused to  accept  of  any  remuneration.  Indeed, 
of  the  eight  physicians  who  attended  her,  only 
two  accepted -of  any  fee,  and  these  two  had  ren- 
dered the  least  service.  Dr.  Macrae  having, 
at  our  request,  carefully  examined  the  lungs  of 
the  patient,  said,  "There  was  not  the  slightest 
indication  of  any  disease  in  them — that  she 
could  not  expect  to  recover  from  her  com- 
plaints, or  regain  strength,  during  the  rains  in 
either  the  mountains  or  the  plains  of  India — 
that  we  had  nothing  to  fear  as  regards  the 
effects  of  a  voyage  on  her  health,  if  we  could 
sail  before  she  lost  much  more  strength — that 
if  we  could  get  out  of  this  wet  climate  soon, 
into  the  sea  air,  we  had  every  reason  to  expect 
that  in  a  few  weeks  her  disease  would  disap- 
pear, and  she  arrive  in  America  as  strong  and 
healthy  as  she  had  ever  been." 

August  2,  her  disease  became  worse,  and  her 
pains  and  vomiting  very  severe. 

One  day  about  this  time,  after  a  most  fearful 
flash  of  lightning  and  clap  of  thunder,  she  asked 
me  to  lie  down  on  the  bed  by  her  side.  "  Why  ?" 
I  asked,  "are  you  afraid?"  Such  a  crash  could 
not  have  failed  to  produce  a  shock  upon  the 


58  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

firmest  nerves.  "  No,  but  such  thunder  startles 
me,"  was  the  reply.  "But  suppose  the  lightning 
should  strike  you  dead,  which  is  not  at  all  im- 
possible ;  what  then  ?"  "Why,  then  I  should  be 
freed  from  all  my  pains."  "How  do  you  know 
that;  have  you  never  committed  any  sin?"  "Yes, 
a  great  many ;  I  am  a  poor  sinful  creature,  but 
Christ  died  to  take  away  all  my  sins." 

That  day  she  again  spoke  of  never  having 
had  a  fear  of  death  for  the  past  five  or  six 
years.  I  often  feared  that  the  death-scene 
might  prove  to  be  too  severe  a  test  for  so  con- 
fident an  assurance  of  faith.  But  my  fears,  as 
you  will  see,  have  been  most  happily  disappoint- 
ed. To  me  her  experience  is  a  most  convincing 
evidence,  that  such  a  full  assurance  of  faith  is 
attainable  as  will  not  only  bear  the  test  of  years 
of  temptation,  and  the  most  severe  afflictions, 
but  will  even  brave  the  king  of  terrors  in  the 
last  great  struggle.  I  must  be  a  dull  scholar 
indeed,  if  in  four  years'  companionship  with  such 
a  teacher,  and  through  such  vicissitudes,  I  have 
not  learned  something  of  the  value  of  such  a 
constant  assurance  of  a  title  to  eternal  life.  Oh 
how  sweetly  comforting  in  affliction,  how  assur- 
ing in  alarm,  how  supporting  in  death,  to  be 


MKS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  59 

able  to  say,  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 
Let  us  "give  all  diligence  to  make  our  calling 
and  election  sure." 

August  11,  Thursday,  about  10  o'clock  A.  M., 
I  came  into  her  room,  having  been  absent  for 
over  an  hour,  and  found  her  sleeping.  But  her 
look  was  so  deathlike,  that  I  was  instantly  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  what  Mrs.  Lish,  our  host- 
ess, who  indeed  was  like  a  mother  to  us,  had 
labored  for  several  days  to  impress  upon  my 
mind,  that  there  was  real  danger  that  she  might 
not  survive  to  reach  the  ship.  As  I  could  not 
repress  my  emotions,  I  retired  to  a  distant  room, 
and  gave  free  vent  to  my  feelings.  It  was 
nearly  two  hours  before  I  could  gain  sufficient 
control  of  myself  to  return  to  her  room.  My 
great  struggle  was  on  that  day.  With  about 
as  much  fear  as  hope,  from  that  time  I  tried  to 
say,  from  the  heart,  "  Thy  unll  be  done" 

When  you  have  read  what  I  have  further  to 
say,  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  I  may 
appropriately  designate  her  closing  hours, 

THE  TRIUMPH. 

If  ever  any  one,  at  the  very  verge  of  the 
tomb,  has  been  able  to  say,  "  0  grave,  where  is 


60  BKIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 

thy  victory  ?  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?"  it 
was  she  of  whom  I  write. 

August  13.  Saturday,  about  10  o'clock  A.  M., 
she  fell  into  a  state  of  such  weakness  that  Mrs. 
Lish,  for  nearly  an  hour,  watched  for  her  last 
breath,  although,  from  various  circumstances,  I 
felt  confident  she  would  again  revive.  Having 
become  quiet  for  a  moment,  and  closing  her 
eyes ;  in  a  tone  that  I  thought  the  sleeper  would 
not  hear,  I  remarked,  "Now  she  will  take  a  lit- 
tle sleep,  and  wake  up  feeling  better."  Without 
appearing  to  open  her  eyes,  she  brought  my  ear 
close  to  her  mouth,  and  whispered,  "I  shall  soon 
sleep  in  Jesus'  bosom." 

After  about  half  an  hour's  sleep,  she  woke  up 
much  revived.  I  suggested  that  if  she  really 
had  such  thoughts  as  she  expressed  on  going 
to  sleep,  there  would  at  least  be  no  harm  in  her 
preparing  for  the  worst.  "Well,"  said  she,  "I 
do  wish  to  send  some  messages.  You  take  your 
book,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  to  write."  She 
then  dictated  two  letters  to  near  relatives,  one 
of  them  quite  long.  Those  letters  do  not  belong 
to  me,  so  I  have  no  right  to  give  them  to  you. 
But  I  may  say  that  in  both,  she  spoke  of  being 
"glad  she  had  come  to  India,"  and  urged  upon 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  61 

those  to  whom  they  were  addressed,  to  "be 
always  in  readiness  for  death  and  eternity." 
In  one  of  those  letters  occur  the  words,  "I 

GO   TO   BE  WITH   MY  DEAR   SAVIOUR,"  which  she 

expressed  in  a  tone  and  manner  that  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  my  mind,  an  impression 
which  I  would  not  wish  should  be,  and  which  I 
feel  never  can  be  erased.  The  words,  the  tone 
of  voice,  the  expression  of  countenance,  indicat- 
ed such  a  fervor  of  love,  such  a  clear  appre- 
hension of  the  divine  Person  of  whom  she  spoke, 
that  the  pencil  almost  dropped  from  my  fingers, 
and  a  kind  of  awe  crept  over  me,  as  if  I  had 
unexpectedly  found  myself  in  the  sacred  pres- 
ence on  high. 

She  sent  short  messages  to  several  others ;  as, 
"Tell  the  missionaries  of  our  mission,  and  their 
wives,  that  I  love  them  all,  especially  Mrs.  Her- 
ron."  Her  message  to  every  one  was,  "  Prepare 
for  death."  She  gave  me  particular  directions 
about  giving  mementos  of  her  to  a  number  of 
her  relatives  and  friends. 

I  think  it  was  the  afternoon  of  this  day,  Sat- 
urday, when  she  asked  me  to  sing  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-eighth  psalm,  second  version, 
which  we  always  sung  to  the  tune  Lenox.  You 


62  BEIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

will  remember  the  psalm  from  the  first  stanza, 
which  is : 

"  The  Lord  of  heaven  confess, 

On  high  his  glory  raise. 

Him  let  all  angels  bless, 

Him  all  his  armies  praise. 
Him  glorify,  sun,  moon,  and  stars ; 
Ye  higher  spheres,  and  cloudy  sky." 

She  frequently  joined,  but  was  too  weak  to 
sing  much.  As  I  ended  she  remarked,  "  The 
words  and  the  tune  both  chord  exactly  with  my 
feelings." 

On  the  morning  of  this  day  her  medical  at- 
tendant expressed  his  fears  that  she  would  not 
live  to  reach  the  ship.  The  incessant  rains  had 
acted  fearfully  on  her  diseases  as  well  as  on  her 
strength  in  general.  The  ten  days  we  were 
delayed  at  Allahabad,  every  day  expecting  a 
steamer  to  start,  and  the  three  weeks  we  were 
detained  at  Calcutta  before  we  could  secure  a 
passage  to  America,  were,  I  consider,  the  prox- 
imate cause  of  the  fatal  event.  These  being 
matters  so  entirely  beyond  our  control,  and 
which  we  could  not  possibly  have  foreseen,  we 
have  the  less  room  for  self-condemnation  in  the 
matter.  What  Providence  does  is  done  right. 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  63 

I  may  say  here  too,  that  had  the  ship  in  which 
we  had  taken  passage  sailed  a  week  or  two 
earlier,  as  was  at  first  expected,  the  event 
might  have  been  even  worse  than  it  was.  At 
that  time  a  fearful  storm  of  several  days  swept 
over  the  whole  Indian  ocean,  in  which  multi- 
tudes of  ships  and  lives  were  lost,  and  one  man 
who  accompanied  the  remains  of  the  departed 
to  their  resting-place,  and  who  sailed  the  day 
she  was  to  have  sailed,  found  the  next  day,  in 
a  storm,  a  watery  grave.  We  have  therefore 
some  special  reason  to  feel  that,  in  our  case, 
"He  hath  done  all  things  well." 

It  having  become  known  that  her  medical 
attendant  had  given  up  hopes  of  her  recovery, 
we  were  advised  to  call  in  another  physician, 
who  had  obtained  some  celebrity  for  the  cure 
of  severe  cases  of  such  diseases  as  hers.  To 
this,  Dr.  Macrae  in  the  most  gentlemanly  man- 
ner consented.  The  new  doctor  being  called 
and  undertaking  the  case,  as  well  as  from  other 
circumstances,  we  felt  much  encouraged.  Mrs. 
Lish  and  I,  supposing  her  to  be  asleep,  were 
speaking  of  the  encouraging  prospects  of  her 
even  yet  recovering,  when  she  spoke  out,  say- 
ing, "I  don't  know  that  I  wish  to  get  well." 


64  BRIEF  MEMOEIAL  OP 

"Why,"  said  I,  "would  you  not  like  to  labor 
more  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  among  the 
heathen  ?"  She  hesitatingly  said,  "Yes ;"  then, 
after  a  pause,  she  spoke  out  in  a  loud  lively 
tone,  as  if  she  had  suddenly  made  some  pleasant 
discovery:  "I'll  tell  you  just  exactly  what  I 
wish — I  wish  that  to  be  which  will  be  most  for 
the  glory  of  God."  "But  you  can  do  nothing 
for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen  in  the  other 
world,"  said  I.  "  I  expect  my  Saviour  has  some- 
thing there  for  me  to  do,  or  he  would  not  call 
me  there,"  was  the  reply. 

At  this  moment,  as  I  write,  I  do  not  recollect 
any  passage  of  Scripture  that  would  justify  the 
assertion  that  glorified  saints  can  do  nothing 
for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen.  She  of  whom 
I  write  believed  that,  in  the  world  to  come, 
there  would  be  some  sphere  of  active  benevo- 
lence for  the  redeemed,  some  work  in  which 
they  might  do  good  to  others.  She  now  knows 
whether  she  was  right  or  not.  At  present  it 
more  concerns  us  to  improve  every  opportunity 
we  now  enjoy  of  doing  good  to  others,  than  to 
know  whether  there  will  be  such  opportunities 
in  the  world  to  come.  She  did  not  neglect  the 
present  in  anticipation  of  the  future.  Her 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  65 

opinion  in  this  matter  may  indicate  a  marked 
trait  in  her  character — her  delight  in  doing 
good  to  others.  She  felt  that  heaven,  to  be 
heaven,  must  afford,  in  some  way,  a  sphere  for 
active  benevolence. 

Lord's  day,  August  14th,  she  was  very  com- 
fortable all  day,  much  better  than  she  had  been 
the  day  before.  The  new  course  of  medicine 
produced  a  most  decided  improvement  in  her 
symptoms.  At  one  of  his  visits  that  day,  the 
doctor  said  if  she  continued  improving  for  four 
days  as  she  had  the  past  twenty-four  hours,  he 
would  pronounce  her  out  of  danger.  He  made 
a  singular  remark,  which  may  be  noticed  as 
corroborating  what  has  been  already  referred 
to — her  cheerful  patience  under  severe  trials. 
He  said,  "  Three  things  particularly  promote 
recovery  :  good  spirits,  the  power  of  medicine, 
and  the  grace  of  God.  This  patient  evidently 
has  the  first  in  a  remarkable  degree ;  I  shall 
try  to  apply  the  second,  and  I  hope  the  third 
will  not  be  wanting."  In  moving  from  place  to 
place,  she  necessarily  had  frequent  changes  of 
physicians,  having  had  eight  different  ones  at- 
tending on  her  more  or  less  during  that  sick- 
ness, every  one  of  whom  remarked,  some  of 


66  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

them  with  great  surprise,  her  astonishingly 
cheerful  patience.  No  one  could  be  in  her 
presence  for  even  an  hour  without  observing 
this.  I  doubt,  however,  whether  all  understood 
the  secret  of  it — her  constant  and  vivid  realiza- 
tion of  her  Saviour's  presence,  her  unwavering 
assurance  that  he  was  making  "  all  things  work 
together  for  her  good."  All  could  easily  see 
her  courageous  patience ;  but  all  might  not  ob- 
serve the  form  of  "  one  like  the  Son  of  God 
walking  in  the  midst  of  the  fire  with  her," 
"  bending  over  her,  comforting  her  "  so  sweetly, 
that  even  tears  of  joy  were  brought  to  her  eyes. 
This  was  a  clue  to  her  constant  peace  and  joy 
which  every  attendant  did  not  discover. 

So  much  encouraged  was  I  that  day,  that 
frequently  I  was  unable  to  refrain  from  weep- 
ing with  joy.  How  little  we  know  what  a  day 
may  bring  forth !  The  invalid,  however,  evi- 
dently continued  to  look  upon  her  great  change 
as  near  at  hand.  As  she  was  lying  quietly 
meditating,  she  broke  out  singing  that  beauti- 
ful sacred  song, 

"Asleep  in  Jesus !  Oh  how  sweet, 
To  be  for  such  a  slumber  meet,"  etc. 

She  sung  two  stanzas  with  apparently  as  firm 


MES.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  67 

and  clear  a  voice  as  ever  in  her  life.  Indeed, 
she  seemed  to  have  caught  inspiration  from 
above,  for  her  usually  rich,  clear  voice  appeared 
to  have  acquired  a  more  than  earthly  sweet- 
ness. I  wish  you  could  have  heard  her  voice 
on  that  occasion.  You  can  find  the  hymn  in 
"  The  Sacred  Songs,"  published  by  the  Ameri- 
can Tract  Society ;  there  set  to  the  music  to 
which  she  sung  it.  Dr.  Duff,  at  her  request, 
prayed  with  her  to-day;  and  after  he  left,  she 
spoke  of  having  enjoyed  his  prayer  in  an  un- 
usual degree. 

Monday,  August  15.  The  eventful  day !  As 
I  was  standing  at  the  window,  gazing  at  the 
rising  sun,  which,  as  had  seldom  been  the  case 
for  many  weeks,  was  that  morning  ascending 
beautifully  into  a  fair  and  cloudless  sky,  before 
I  was  aware  that  the  sleeper  had  awoke,  I  was 
startled  by  her  commencing  to  sing, 

"  Jesus  can  make  a  dying  bed 

Feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are, 
While  on  his  breast  I  lean  my  head, 
And  breathe  my  life  out  sweetly  there." 

She  did  not  sing  this  with  as  firm  a  voice  as 
she  sung  the  day  before.  This  was  her  last 
song  on  earth.  How  exceedingly  appropriate ! 


68  BEIEF  MEMOEIAL  OP 

The  piece,  of  which  this  is  the  last  verse,  is  also 
in  "  Sacred  Songs." 

At  worship  this  morning,  she  asked  me  to 
read  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  John's  gospel, 
"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  etc.  When 
I  had  read  to  the  end  of  the  third  verse  she 
interrupted  the  reading,  saying,  "  There,  that 's 
enough ;  now  pray."  This,  I  presume,  was  the 
last  scripture  she  read  or  heard  read  in  this 
life.  Again,  how  appropriate !  That  chapter 
and  the  hundred  and  twenty-first  and  twenty- 
third  psalms  were  her  favorite  portions  of  the 
Bible.  She  was  accustomed  to  repeat  or  sing 
them  when  she  wished  to  turn  her  thoughts 
upon  religious  subjects,  but  had  neither  the 
Bible  nor  psalm-book  at  hand.  Those  psalms 
must  have  become  her  favorites  in  her  later 
years,  as  it  was  the  Scotch  version  she  sung, 
which  she  never  had  seen  till  I  presented  her 
with  a  copy.  Well  I  remember  the  calm  trust- 
ing tone  with  which,  when  something  caused 
fear  or  anxiety  in  our  minds,  she  would  repeat, 

"I  to  the  hills  will  lift  mine  eyes, 

From  whence  doth  come  mine  aid ; 
My  safety  cometh  from  the  Lord, 
Who  heaven  and  earth  hath  made." 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  69 

That  morning,  both  of  the  doctors  having 
called,  at  different  times,  she  asked  them 
whether  they  thought  she  ought  to  attempt  to 
go  aboard  the  ship.  They  both  unhesitatingly 
said,  By  all  means  go ;  that  presents  the  only 
hope.  Dr.  Macrae  told  me  alone — not  with 
dry  eyes — that  he  feared  I  must  give  up  all 
hope  of  her  living  long ;  but  still,  if  she  were 
alive  when  the  vessel  sailed,  by  all  means  go 
aboard.  Just  after  he  left,  I  received  a  note 
from  Captain  Hickey,  saying  that  our  luggage 
must  be  at  the  vessel  by  4  p.  M.  that  day,  and 
we  ourselves  might  come  the  next  morning. 
No  time  was  to  be  lost.  By  about  3  p.  M.,  I 
had  sent  off  our  luggage  to  the  ship,  when  I 
.was  sent  for  to  remove  the  invalid  from  the 
sitting-room,  into  which  we  had  carried  her  on 
the  couch  three  or  four  hours  before,  back  into 
her  bedroom.  I  expressed  surprise  that  she 
should  wish  to  be  taken  back  at  that  time. 
She  said  she  "felt  strangely."  She  had  just 
reached  her  room  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pourie, 
pastor  of  a  Free  Kirk  congregation  in  Calcutta, 
called.  I  had  talked  with  him  for  a  few  min- 
utes, when  Mrs.  Lish  called  me.  I  found  the 
poor  sufferer  becoming  very  restless,  wishing 


70  BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OP 

frequently  to  have  her  position  changed.  But 
I  did  not  really  fear  that  she  was  then  going, 
although  a  thought  of  that  had  crossed  my 
mind  at  her  expression  that  she  "  felt  strange- 
ly," until  perhaps  about  half-past  four  p.  M. 
On  my  asking  her  if  she  felt  happy,  she  replied, 
"Yes,  in  mind."  "Are  you  afraid?"  "No," 
with  a  shake  of  the  head.  "  Is  Jesus  with 
you  ?"  Not  in  a  whisper,  but  in  so  loud  and 
cheerful  a  voice  that  every  one  in  the  room 
was  startled,  she  replied,  "  Yes,  he  is."  Short- 
ly after  this,  with  an  unusual  effort,  she  turned 
herself  from  her  right  to  her  left  side,  so  that 
she  could  extend  her  right  hand,  saying,  "Now 
I  am  going  home ;  '  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly.' "  These  were  her  last  words.  She 
then  held  out  her  hand  towards  me,  and  liter- 
ally shaking  my  hand,  with  an  energy  that 
quite  surprised  me,  she  smiled,  much  as  if  we 
were  parting  only  for  an  afternoon.  She  then 
held  out  her  hand  successively  to  each  of  our 
friends  in  the  room,  each  of  whom  took  her 
hand  and  kissed  her.  After  this,  for  perhaps 
two  minutes,  she  continued  looking  up  quite 
beyond  us,  with  such  a  smile  and  expression  of 
countenance  as  I  never  before  saw.  I  felt  sure 


MBS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  7} 

she  was  seeing  something  very  pleasant,  and  made 
a  move,  involuntarily,  to  ask  her  what  it  was, 
but  was  prevented  by  those  around  me.  She 
then  with  a  slight  knitting  of  the  brow,  as  if  in 
momentary  pain,  closed  her  eyes,  her  face  resum- 
ed its  former  smile,  and  all  was  over.  Thus  about 
5  P.  M.  she  sunk  to  rest,  or  rather  rose  to  glory. 

The  first  words  after  this  were  whispered  by 
the  nurse,  who,  I  presume,  had  witnessed  scores 
of  death-scenes :  "  What  an  easy  death ;  I  never 
saw  the  like  of  it." 

With  difficulty,  with  a  bursting  heart,  I  have 
reached  this  point  in  the  narration.  You  must 
excuse  me  from  adding  much.  I  do  not  re- 
member ever  before  having  witnessed  the  death 
of  any  one.  I  cannot  describe  to  you  my  feel- 
ings of  that  hour.  But  you  may  think,  if  you 
choose,  of  a  person  suddenly  coming  to  his  sen- 
ses, and  finding  himself  sick,  alone,  and  desti- 
tute, in  the  midst  of  an  unknown  waste  wilder- 
ness. Oh  the  desolation! 

Nextmorning,  Dr.  Duff  conducting  the  last  sad 
religious  services,  her  redeemed  dust  was  laid  in 
the  old  Scotch  burial-ground,  there  to  repose  till 
the  Lord  himself  shall  come  in  his  glory,  when  she 
shall  appear  among  those  who  "shall  rise  first." 


BRIEF  MEMORIAL  OF 


I  have  caused  the  spot  to  be  marked  by  a 
neat  marble  slab,  a  drawing  of  which,  together 
with  the  engraving  on  the  black  marble  tablet 


MRS.  LIZZIE  G.  CALDERWOOD.  73 

which  is  inserted  in  it,  I  herewith  inclose.  In 
the  same  burial-ground  rest  the  ashes  of  Dr. 
Lowrie's  first  wife,  and  of  two  wives  of  Mr. 
Morrison,  one  of  our  missionaries  now  at  Rawal 
Pindi. 

"  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord 
from  henceforth ;  yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they 
may  rest  from  their  labors;  and  their  works 
do  follow  them."  Let  me  live  the  life,  that  I 
may  "die  the  death  of  the  righteous;"  then  I 
also  shall  be  prepared,  with  my  last  breath,  to 
say, 

"NOW  I  'M  GOING  HOME." 

"  I  'm  going  home — prepare  the  bridal  wreath  1 

My  Saviour  bids  my  happy  spirit  come : 
Damp  not  with  tears  the"  Christian's  bed  of  death ; 
Rejoice,  I  'm  going  home  I 

"  The  dove  hath  found  her  nest,  the  storm-tossed  found 

A  place  of  rest  beyond  the  dashing  foam 
Of  grief's  wild  billows — thither  am  I  bound. 
Joy,  joy,  I  'm  going  home  I 

"  Earth's  flowers  all  fade ;  those  fadeless  roses  blow: 

Earth's  sunniest  light  is  shaded  by  the  tomb ; 
Earth's  loves  all  slumber  in  the  vault  below. 
Death  dwells  not  in  that  home. 


74  BRIEF  MEMORIAL,  ETC. 

"I  see  the  city  of  the  blest  on  high 

With  the  freed  spirit's  ken.     I  come,  I  come ! 
Ye  calling  voices,  catch  my  heart's  reply : 
Home !  now  I  'm  going  home." 

RAGG. 

Ever  yours,  most  dutifully  and  affectionately, 
W.  CALDERWOOD. 


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